Redemption: Second Chances
by master of random disaster
Summary: Harry Potter was abused ever since he was sent to the Dursleys. But one day, an Elvin angel that has been watching over him secretly, comes and whisks him away to live with her and her clan. But Voldemort is watching, and so is his new ally...
1. Birthday Bashed and Watched By Unseen

**_Destiny:_**

**Warning: This FF is rated T for beating, violence, and other stuff. Don't yell at me for _that _because it will not make me have a revelation and change the story. Flame if you feel the need, but keep in mind that none is forcing you to read this ff.**

**Rating: Rated T.**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! Happy? I own _nothing. _Period. There might be a teacher or student that you don't recognize: I own _them_ but I own nothing else. J.K Rowling does own everything else. Care to rub it in _more_?**

**Note: I can't spell check this story. It is impossible for my stupid computer to spell check this story. Please don't ask if I can spell check this story. Thank you very much everyone!**

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"Boy! Get out here!"

The roar echoed threw number 4 private drive like a foghorn. Harry Potter gave a small squeak of terror as he anticipated what was to come. He curled up in a ball in his tiny cupboard nest, trying to protect as much of his small, 10-going-on-11-year old body as he could manage.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE FREEK!" His Uncle Vernon roared again. "I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU FOR YOUR FREEKY 11TH BIRTHDAY!"

The little boy said nothing in reply, not totally convinced. After the hell that had been his life for the last 11 years, 11 months, and 12 days (he was miserable enough to count it all up), he was hardly expecting so much as a 'hello', even today. He wasn't bitter though. He always believed everything happened for a reason...

"Come get it!" His Uncle taunted in a sing-song voice from outside his door.

Harry made no move to get up, or acknowledge the man at all. He knew it was no present, what was about to occur, and he would postpone the moment as much as he could before it happened.

"INGRATE!" His Uncle roared after waiting about 10 seconds. "I'm coming to get you then!" and so her wrenched the door open, and dragged him out. Harry didn't protest. He assumed he had done something to deserve this.

"This-" He hit Harry over the head. "will-" he hit Harry in the stomach. "knock-" he kicked Harry in the knees. "The freak out of you!" he took a belt from the coat hanger near him and proceeded to pound him indiscriminately all over the young boy's body.

Harry Potter made no sound. This beating was regular-practically daily- ever since he was 4 years old. The first year he screamed. Screamed like hell at that. But Vernon merely beet him worst the louder he was. So after awhile he went quiet...

Now he was being subjected to it worse-since it was his birthday... 'Happy Birthday to me" he though hopelessly. His Uncle was always drunk. All the time. And when he was drunk, he took it out on him. Simple and clear. If you didn't believe him, the scares all along his back-and the rest of him for that matter-proved it quite clearly.

"Get out of my sight!" Vernon roared, kicking the broken boy into the cupboard, and slamming it shut behind him as he wobbled out of the room to throw up in the bathroom.

"Ouch!" he hissed quietly as he nursed his new injuries. That was worse then normal. The beating had lasted for at least 20 minutes. Then again, he had deserved it, he convinced himself. He didn't know why it was his fault, but it must have been. Why else was his life like this? He must have done something horrible.

'None deserved to live like this unless they had done something horrible' he thought to himself, pulling out a picture of a very pretty women and a handsome man holding a child between them. The child was him. He had figured that he was the baby a while ago.

He thought a lot actually. He was very smart for a boy of 10-going-on-11 that had had no schooling in his life. He had learned early on that he had to take care of himself.

None else was going to.

He sighed and put the picture away. 'I've got to go to the park' he though suddenly. He opened the cupboard door a crack to see if he could sneak out without attracting his drunken uncle's wrath.

He could tell it was nearly night-time. The sky was darkening, and it was cold outside. He pulled the old, ragged coat he wore close toward him as he dashed out the door.

He didn't notice a figure standing in the shadows of a large tree, yards away from him, who had seen the whole beating. He didn't notice the figure shake her head, and follow silently behind the boy, taking care to make sure none noticed her.

"Poor little Harry" she whispered to herself, gliding after her young quarry.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way..."

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**"Please read and review! I would love to hear from you!" -so proclaims the master of random disaster!**


	2. Stars and Sky

Thanks to all my reviewers! I decided that this story wouldn't make an ounce of sense if left as a one-shot. Besides: I really do like it. I have just been distracted at school since my Finals are coming. So: Chapter 2, here we go.

Disclaimer: I own the Harry Potter series as much as I own Mars- which is not at all.

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CHAPTER 2: Stars and Sky

Harry sat quietly on the park swing, gazing up at the bright, diamond-like stars that littered the otherwise dark sky.

He wished that he was one of those stars. Then he could help make the sky even more beautiful, and he would be away from this place...

As he mused in the swing, which swayed slightly in the light breeze, he suddenly noticed a figure shrouded in darkness; watching him with a bright intensity.

In other circumstances, he would have jumped from the swing, and back away fearfully. But somehow, the stranger's presence was... calming. Safe. So instead of running away, he simply watched as the figure stepped into the silvery moonlight.

It was a girl that looked hardly older then 16. She had light brown hair with streaks the color of the sun running threw it. Her lightly tanned skin glowed in the moonlight, as did her sky blue eyes. She was dressed in a long gown matching her eye color perfectly, with silver bracelets glimmering at her wrists, and a silver and blue necklace at her throat. Harry didn't know how he could tell, but there was something not... human... about this girl.

She smiled as she stopped in front of him, and spoke softly. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm f-fine," Harry stuttered. He watched as she took a seat on the swing next to his, her eyes never leaving him.

After a minute of silence, Harry blurted out, "What- who are you?" He flushed in embarrassment, and looked down again.

She chuckled slightly, and he looked up again. "My name is Skyler. As to what I am, I am a half angel, half elf." To prove the point, she flexed two powerful-looking silver wings, before tucking them away again.

Whatever Harry expected her to say, it was not this. He stared hard at her, noticing that her eyes portrayed amusement. "W-What!"

She stood from her swing, and observed him from her height advantage. "Harry Potter, I have watched you struggle threw your younger years with much sympathy. I helped and assisted when I could, but I dare not approach you until you reached sufficient age. I wish to take you away from here. To live with me among my clan.

"I know this is much to take in, but we must leave now if you wish to go. I know that your family has hurt you both emotionally and physically, and I wish for you to live out your remaining childhood in happiness." She paused to take a deep breath, and continued. "What do you think?"

Harry was in shock. That wasn't real. There was no such thing as magic! But here he was, being given a second chance at happiness by a magical creature that had been his guardian when things got to ruff.

Now that he thought about it, he could remember strange things happening that helped him when he was feeling particularly strong emotions. Should he go with her?

The answer was rather obvious. There was nothing he was going to miss at Privet Drive. And as long as he could see the stars every night, he was going to be happy.

"I would love to go with you, Sky," Harry responded, hugging his rescuer as tightly as he could, afraid that she would disappear if he let go.

She smiled happily; glad that she could finally take proper care of**_ her_** child. She had declared herself his mother subconsciously, despite him being a human, and she an Elvin angel. "Let go then."

With a slight rustle, her silver-feathered wings extended again, and gave a powerful flap. The wind around them picked up, and a second later, a bright silver portal appeared in midair.

Harry hesitated slightly. He glanced over at Sky, who nodded her encouragement.

"Go on."

Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the liquid-looking surface, Sky close behind, and it shut closed behind them.

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WHEW! That was refreshing. I just want you all to know, I did make a sincere effort to watch my spelling since it bothered some of you. I used a dictionary and everything, but even the best of us make mistakes, and if there is any that I didn't catch, sorry.

"Hope you all enjoy! Please R&R!"- So proclaims the Master of Random Disaster!


	3. Queen Ashleigh and Missing

**jka1**: Thanks! BTW, while Dumbledore _does_ have a reaction in _this_ chapter, he will have an even **better** one later on, when Harry comes back to the wizarding world.

Thanks for the review! Onward to victory!

**Disclaimer: **I own what you do not recognize. Mainly Queen Ashleigh, Sky, and the rest of the Elvin clan.

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**Chapter 3: Queen Ashleigh and Missing**

Harry tumbled less then gracefully out of the portal, as Sky landed neatly beside him. Smiling wryly, she offered her hand, and helped him to his feet.

"Ouch!"

"First time threw is always the hardest," she insisted, dusting off her charge's clothes. When she was done, she did a double-take. "We are _so_ getting you a new wardrobe after we're done here."

"Where is here, anyways?" Harry asked, looking admiringly around at the white marble hall they had stumble into.

"We are currently in the Entrance Hall to the Palace."

"Who's Palace?" asked Harry warily.

Sky gave him a playful smile, and strode off without responding. Harry scurried after her.

After a few minutes of passing more halls, and lots of people dressed in long green cloaks, and holding weapons, ("Palace guards," Sky explained) they finally reached a large golden door with a large sapphire for a handle.

Smiling reassuringly at Harry, Sky waved her hand in front of a small silver plate placed next to the door. The handle turned itself, and the door opened slowly. Sky gestured for Harry to stay quiet as they entered.

The Throne Room of the Palace was exquisite crafted of white marble, and decorated with sapphires, emeralds, rubies, gold and several other things that Harry did not know the names of. He obeyed the request of silence made by Sky as they both made their way toward the throne, surrounded by guards, in the centre of the room.

Seated to the right of the throne, to Harry's surprise, was a coal-black panther with pure silver teeth and claws. Its sapphire blue eyes followed their progress threw the room carefully. There was a crown of pure silver and gold leaves gracing the crest of its head, for a reason Harry was not sure of yet, and he didn't think now was a good time to ask. Just as unusual was the fact that the beast was _allowing_ the one seated on the throne to _stroke_ its _head_. On the contrary, it looked to be enjoying the touch.

Harry looked up to see the owner of the hand sitting alertly on the throne. It was a female that looked to be about 25 or so in human years. She had dark, almost black, wavy brown hair that went to her waist, and dark tanned skin. Her eyes were so like the panthers it was eerie, and she wore a navy blue gown that reached her ankles. Gold bracelets decorated her wrists, and a necklace that looked exactly like Sky's adorned her neck, but with the colors of navy blue and gold instead. On the top of her head was a crown of pure gold and silver leaves exactly like the panther's, and signifying that she was the current Queen.

Once they were in reasonable distance from the Queen, Sky bowed. Harry hastened to imitate the gesture, and as he did, he noticed the panther seemed to nod its approval.

"Greetings, your highness," Sky said, respectfully.

"Greetings, Skyler. You may both rise, and tell me whom you are, child," the Queen said calmly.

"Sure thing, but can I speak to you privately, Queen Ashleigh?" Sky asked, glancing at the guards lining the room.

Queen Ashleigh nodded her consent, and gestured for her guards to leave. They complied, and Harry made to leave with them, but Sky called him back.

"Don't be silly, Harry. This involves you." She turned back to the Queen and introduced him. "Mother, this is Harry Potter. The child whom I have been watching out for."

As Harry tried to not look to surprised that Sky was the Princess of her clan, he heard Ashleigh let out a long sigh, and her face fell into her hands. She mumbled something in which only the words "...impulsive child..." were distinguishable.

Harry was suddenly even more uncomfortable, and said quietly, "Queen Ashleigh, if you would like me to, I'll leave right now, I-"

Ashleigh cut him off before he could say anything more. Her head came out of her hands, and she smiled apologetically. "I was not referring to you. And call me Ashleigh, Harry. You see, my child, Skyler, has been watching you for some time, and had constantly appealed to me to allow you to be brought here, and raised with the Elvin children. But as you have no Elvin blood in you, I asked her to wait until your 11th birthday, and then _I_ would send someone to bring you here." Here she sent a reproving glance at Sky, who was watching her innocently.

"But I thought that this was an Elvin angel clan," Harry said, confused. "Sky said she was one, so how come-"

"You see, Harry, when one being loves another being very much, they-" Sky started out, looking amused. Harry flushed, and Ashleigh took pity on him, and cut Sky off.

"You see, my mate, Sky's father, was King of this Elvin clan, and he was a pure breed elf. Then we met, fell in love, and married, thus, making me Queen. I am a pure breed angel, and when we had Sky, she was a half angel, half elf. See how that works? But then a horrible plague drastically decreased our numbers, and he was infected. Many of the pure breed elves passed on during that plague, as their blood was very susceptible to the disease. He was one of them. Sky was affected by it, too, but the angel immune system saved her."

Ashleigh and Sky both looked very sad at this. "Oh," Harry said, unable to this of anything else to say in the uncomfortable silence. "I'm r-really sorry."

Ashleigh smiled, and Sky gave his had a squeeze. "He was a wonderful being. We both loved him very much. The clan was very sad to hear of his passing. But life goes on, and he would not want us to morn him. After all, we shall see him again... As will you see your parents again someday, Harry," was Ashleigh's sage reply.

Harry smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Now, let's get you that wardrobe I threatened you with," Sky said, more cheerful at her mother's words.

Ashleigh gave him a sympathetic look. "Skyler is very -err- enthusiastic about fashion." She paused, and gave him a swift once-over. "Though to be fare, you'll need all the help you can get," she said, grimacing at Dudley's hand-me-downs that shadowed over Harry like circus tents.

Harry made a noise of protest, but Sky was already dragging Harry off, as Ashleigh watched them go with amusement. She readjusted her crown, and shared a smile with the panther as her guards came back in the room. Twirling her marriage ring absently, she reminisced the day that her now-dead husband, Jaysion, proposed to her.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away at Privet Drive, the entire Order of the Phoenix was searching franticly for Harry James Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Is-Now-Missing-Because-We-Never-Bothered-To-Check-Up-On-Him.

**XXXX**

**At Privet Drive**

**XXXX**

Back at Privet Drive, pandemonium reigned.

Some Order of the Phoenix members were bellowing instructions to people standing 4 feet away from themselves, and some were _Obliviate_-ing Muggles who had seen them apperate into the street. After hours of manic searching, however, one fact was established without controversy.

Harry Potter was missing.

The second this declaration was affirmed, the pandemonium quickly escalated into unchecked chaos.

Several hysterical fit and stunning spells later, the chaos was almost completely abated. There were still quite a few people hyperventilating, but they were quickly composing themselves. Before anything more could be done, there was a _Crack! _in the street.

Albus Dumbledore walked threw the now-silent crowd, who parted to allow him to pass. There was a loud silence as Albus stared at the immaculate house that stood proudly before him. He sighed before whispering quietly into the silent crowd of Order members.

His words floated threw the pleasant July air. "Where are you, Harry?"

Deciding that he would not get a response, he turned back to the Order members, and softly requested for them to activate their port keys to Hogwarts. They all did so after collecting their stunned comrades. All but one.

This one person hesitated, and murmured a plea to the heavens. "Please keep Harry safe... Even if I will never see him again." After this was said, he whispered the password ("One can never have enough socks") into the port key.

A second later, the street was once more empty, and no one would have been able to guess that one of the greatest mysteries of the entire decade had just occurred there hours ago.

Little did Remus Lupin know that, not only was Harry safe and in the care of one of the most _powerful_ clan of beings in existence, but that he _would_ see Harry again.

In approximately 4 years' time.

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Yeah! Another chapter up! Hope you like it! Again, I tried with the spelling, but something might have slipped threw.

"Read and Review, my good people!"-So proclaims the **Master of Random Disaster**!


	4. Flashbacks and Missions

You are going to need a key for this chapter! Though you could probably figure it out on your own, I would rather nobody start of confused:

_'Ssssiriussss sssshall never die'..._ Parseltongue

**Sirius shall never die...** Flashback

Sirius shall never die... Telepathic Link

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**CHAPTER 4: OFF TO SEE THE WIZARDS!**

A tall, dark haired teenage boy strode gracefully down the elegant halls of the beautiful palace he had lived in for the past 4 years. His bright, emerald-colored eyes swept the isles, and he occasionally nodded his head at the guards he passed as they bowed to him.

As he approached his destination, the throne room, he attempted to tame his coal black hair, and straiten his clothing. He was dressed in a deep blue tunic, some black slacks, and a garland of pure silver leaves atop his head. He was meeting with his Grandmother, who was Queen of the Elvin clan, and was dressed formally for the encounter.

A flicker of happiness appeared on his tanned face as he thought of Ashleigh. He had always considered Ashleigh his mother, and Skyler as a very protective older sister. He would talk to Ashleigh about things that were troubling him, and she would give her advice when he was finished talking, but never interrupting him.

Do not get him wrong, Sky was great! But... she simply did not _understand_ him, and what he had been threw. Sure, she had _seen_ everything the Dursleys had done, but she never _felt_ any of it.

Ashleigh could understand him because she had the gift of empathy, and used it to relate to him better. He remembered his first day at the Palace. The day that Ashleigh had officially adopted him into the clan...

**Harry was walking down the many twisting and turning hallways of the Elvin Palace, feeling totally and completely lost. **

**Why had he not just stayed in his room, and waited for someone to guide him down? Harry didn't know the answer to this question, and didn't really care much right now, anyway. The point was, he was lost, and there was nothing he could do about it.**

**The white marble walls were starting to close in on him. Harry began to hyperventilate. He curled up in a ball on the floor, and began shaking, wishing all the while that someone, anyone, came by to help him.**

**Suddenly, he felt a nudge on his shoulder. Harry's head went up so fast he felt his neck crack painfully. Rubbing it, he looked around to find the source of the touch. When he found it, he was starting to wish he were alone again. This was because, crouched low on its four silver-clawed paws, was the powerful looking panther that he had seen last night.**

**Tears of fear poured down his face as he backed up slowly. The inky-black panther did not move. It just watched him from it's sapphire colored eyes as light refracted from the silver and gold of it's crown's leaves. After a moment, the creature flicked its tail, stood strait and slowly walked towards him.**

**To Harry's shock, he heard the beast say, in a quiet tone, "Shhhhh... No need to be afraid... I will not harm you..."**

**And slowly, Harry began to believe the animal. After a few moments of the panther's soothing voice calming him, Harry asked, "Who are you, and how come you can talk?"**

**The panther laughed softly, and responded, "My name is Aurora, young child. I may speak because I am Ashleigh's familiar. Now, come with me, and I will take you to the throne room."**

**Harry followed Aurora only a few steps before his stomach growled loudly and he collapsed onto the hard, cold floor. He struggled to his feet, and made to move on, but Aurora blocked his path.**

**"You are unwell, Emerald. I shall carry you to see Ashleigh." Harry tried to protest, claiming that he was too heavy for her to lift. The panther just chuckled, and answered, "I have lifted twigs heavier then you. Besides, I can carry up to 200 pounds, easily. Now, onto my back, Emerald." Harry complied, seeing that Aurora was not going to relent. Sliding onto the powerful creature's back, Harry felt amazing. The soft, sleek fur of the large cat cushioned him, and he was only tall enough to barely see over her ears.**

**After Aurora's words of warning him to hold on tight, the cat took off at a rapid pace. Harry instinctively adjusted his hold so that he wouldn't fall off, and then simply marveled at the rate at which they sped by guards, plants, and statues alike. An instant later, or so it seemed, they were just outside the entrance to the throne room.**

**Harry made to get off, but Aurora did not stop long. She instead flicked the tip of her tail over the entry pad, and the door whoosh-ed open. **

**Slowing to a careful pace, she approached the throne, in which sat a very amused Ashleigh. She appeared to have been speaking to an elderly elf, with white hair, and more face wrinkles than should be allowed. These wrinkles creased together at the sight of the small boy riding the large panther that was Aurora threw the double doors.**

**"And who do we have here?" he asked kindly.**

**"Lord Hominid, this is the child Princess Skyler has been watching over. His name is Harry Potter." Ashleigh stated calmly, as Aurora finally made it to her side. Harry slid off her back, and smiled uncertainly at the Queen, who smiled back.**

**"Harry Potter, eh? Hmm... Ah, yes. The child whom defeated Lord Voldemort. I expect that he did have some help from Skyler that night, though, but probably not too much. I sense he will be powerful one day, my Queen. May I make a suggestion?"**

**Ashleigh, who was looking Harry up and down to check for signs of injury (much to the boy's embarrassment), allowed Aurora to answer. The panther nodded, and Lord Hominid continued. "You should give the boy a different name. Heaven knows that every wizard from her to Japan is on the lookout for him by now since the announcement that he was missing."**

**Ashleigh looked up from Harry, and smiled thoughtfully at Hominid. "You know, that is a wonderful idea." She looked back at Harry carefully, and said, "If only he were a girl. I would then name him APHRODITE, for his beautiful eyes," Ashleigh murmured, gazing deeply into them. He blushed at the compliment, and looked away. "But as it is, I shall name him ARES. Like Ares, he will be a handsome and skilled young man. This I know."**

**(A/N: Heads up! From now on, I will refer to Harry as Ares! Just so you know!)**

Ares smiled. He always would remember the day Ashleigh had given him his Elvin name. He was brought out of his reverie by an irritated hiss near his navel. Not pausing in his journey towards the throne room, he glanced down in amusement at the silvery-blue head of a snake, one of his familiars, where it was wrapped around his waist.

_'Where are we going, Emeraldssss?'_ the snake asked.

_'We are going to vissssit Asssshligh, Ivy,'_ Ares hissed in response. _'Issss that okay with you, or do you wissssh to hunt?'_

_'I sssshall sssstay with you,' _she replied, readjusting her coils around him. Ares hummed his agreement, and reminisced on his familiar's appearance in his life...

**Ares was now 12 years old and having the time of his life. In the last year that he had lived with the Elvin clan, he had made many new friends his own age, and was now very used to the ways of his new family. For example, he** **now considered it second nature to bow whenever he met someone new, and _always_ to bow when he was in his Grandmother Ashleigh's presence.**

**Right now, Ares was playing hide-and-seek in the forest surrounding the Elvin village with his friends Jake, Kcoalia, Sapphire and Shadayo.**

**Jake was known as Jay, or Jay-Jay. He had mischievous amber eyes flecked with tree-bark brown near the pupils, shoulder-length sandy-brown hair, and a hilarious personality. Whenever he was in the room, his antics caused everyone to smile. He pranked 'everything that moved, and sometimes things that simply didn't move at all', as Kcoalia once said. This was after a prank of Jake's went wrong, and instead of hitting his Astronomy teacher, like he had meant to, he had sent a large blob of orange-colored goop at the tree the teacher had been standing a few feet away from.**

**Which brings us to Kcoalia, but in the interest of self-preservation, it was wise to call her Coal. She had icy-purple eyes with flecks of silver, hair as dark as her nickname suggested that was always in a ponytail that reached just below her elbows, and a sarcastic personality. She always had a wisecrack ready, and she and Jake sometimes tag teamed to distract their teachers from handing out Quizzes or Homework. She once manipulated a substitute teacher to become so flustered he set her test that she had not studied for on fire, and she ended up getting a perfect score for the teacher's mistake.**

**Then there was Sapphire, or Fire. She had eyes as blue as her name described and with flecks of gold, honey-blonde hair that was elbow length and curly, and a personality that was as bubbly as anyone could stand. Her mission in life seemed to be to find out just how wide she could smile. Ares once swore that she would get her face stuck like that one of these days, which had caused her to smile wider. The first time you met her you would feel the urge to check and see if there was a sign on your back, or something on your face. She smiled 'more then should be allowed,' as Shadayo had once said.**

**Shadayo was also called Shadow, Storm or Sly. She had eyes the color of her nickname 'Shadow' with shocking bright yellow flecks, hair as dark as Ares' or Coal's, and no 'set' personality. Jake once suggested that Shadow suffered from split personalities. Unfortunately, for Jay, Shadow was both A.) In the room, and B.) In one of her 'evil moods' as Coal had deemed it. Jay never suggested it again. From then on, though, he referred to her as Shadow when she was acting normal, Sly when she was insanely happy, and Storm when she was angry enough to kill.**

**Finally, there was him. Ares went by Re or Aurora's nickname of Emerald. He still had his beautiful (or so he had been told) emerald-colored eyes, but thanks to the blood ritual in which he had been officially excepted into the clan, he now had the super sight that all elves had so he no longer needed his glasses, and also flecks the color of his adoptive mother's eyes in his. His jet-black hair was now much more tame, and had grown slightly past his shoulders, giving him a stylish look, and his personality was much calmer then Jay's, much more friendly and open then Coal's, less hyper then Fire's, and far less dangerously unpredictable then Shadow's. He was 'a mix of all his friends, and that made him the leader' Shadow had once told him, which made him go red, and mutter that he was not trying to boss them around. His four friends laughed at that, and told him in no uncertain terms not to worry, and that they would kick the crap out of him if they ever though he was trying to order them around.**

**"You're just are a natural leader," Fire had said, in one of her rare moments of all-business-no-giggling.**

**"Besides, if someone doesn't keep us four crazy elves in line, the villagers may just petition for our removal," Jay added in a would-be serious tone.**

**"And if we ever get caught pulling a group prank, guess who's going to get the blame!" Coal said, smirking. **

**The others grinned their agreement, and Ares made a noise of mock protest. "Hey!"**

**Shadow laughed and said, "Oh, come on, Re! Skyler is cool! She would let you get away with anything short of murder, and _congratulate_ you if you were caught!"**

**Ares smiled slightly at that. It was true that Skyler had a rather unhealthy appreciation for pranks, but what he really did not want to do was make Ashleigh regret her decision of letting him stay here. Ares had enough sense to know that there were a few villagers, mainly pureblood elves, who weren't in agreement of their Queen's decision of having a _half-blood_ human adopted as apart of their clan, but they kept quiet because they respected Ashleigh as being a _pureblood_ Angel. Heaven only knew what would happen when Ashleigh passed on and Skyler the _half-blood_ Elvin angel took up leadership.**

**Ares shook his head as he peered out of the thick branches of the bush he was hiding in. Now was not the time to worry about politics. Right now was a time for fun with his friends!**

**"AHHHHHHHH!" A scream cut threw the air. "Help you guys!" It was Fire. Ares dashed out of the bush, and tried to sense which way the scream had come from. In his distraction, he crashed full on into Jay and Coal, who were also searching franticly for their friend.**

**"Where is she?" all three of them demanded of each other once they had picked themselves up. "I don't know!" they exclaimed at the same time.**

**"Okay, lets look for footprints," Ares suggested. They nodded in agreement, and transformed into one of (A.N: Keep the one of line in mind!) their animagus forms.**

**"She's to stressed out to respond threw the telepathic link! Anyone caught her sent?" asked Jake the navy-blue Blue Jay, as he returned from skimming threw the lower branches of the forest trees.**

**"Nadda," replied Coal the snow leopard as she stared around at the dirt floor of the forest.**

**"I'll take a look from the sky," said Ares the jet-black phoenix, as he disappeared in a flash of dark fire. A moment later, he exclaimed, "Found her! Shadow found her first, but she doesn't look like she is helping. It looks like she's doubled over in laughter."**

**Irritated sighs followed this announcement, and Ares sent an image of Fire and Shadow's location to Jay and Coal. A second later, they were all in the clearing with the seemingly laughing Shadow, and the now-quiet Fire**

**"What the Hell are you laughing at, Shadow! And Fire, if this is some sort of _bug_ drama, then so _help_ me!" exclaimed Coal as she, Jay, and Ares transformed back to normal. Coal glaring around at them, but then noticed something to make the angry expression slide off her face almost comically. Shadow was not laughing at all. In fact, she was doubled over in intense _pain_, and clutching her ankle. It was obvious that only her Elvin pride was stopping her from screaming aloud. Fire, on the other hand, was staring at something a few feet from her with unrestrained horror.**

**Looking around, Ares saw what had caused all the commotion. It was a five-foot, obviously magical, silver-blue snake. Ares recognized it immediately from his Magical Beings class; it matched the description perfectly. It was a breed of extremely rare magical rattlesnake called the Illinois Rattler. It's venom's after affects were written all over Shadow's face, which was contorted with pain. Moving forward carefully, he caught Fire's and the snake's attention for the first time since he had entered the clearing.**

**To his surprise, he could hear the snake speaking angrily at Fire, who clearly could now understand its words. _'Sssstupid Elf! How dare you sssstep on me! I sssshall bite you, yessss... And I sssshall bit you like I bit your friend, and you will die assss well...'_ that last sentence the serpent uttered made Ares want to panic. The snake was venomous, but Shadow wouldn't _die_! Right? **

**Deciding to try to talk to the snake, Ares hissed, _'Hello.'_**

**The Illinois Rattler and the others in the clearing, except for Shadow who was still in to much pain to do anything more then bite her tongue to keep in her screams, gave him looks of surprise. _'You sssspeek, child?'_**

**_'Yessss. Please do not bite Ssssapphire. Sssshe issss kind and you would not be able to eat her anywayssss,' _Ares reasoned.**

**The snake let out a hiss that sounded like a laugh. _'This is true. I know I cannot eat the girlssss, but they were attacking me, and I had to defend mysssself,' the snake hissed._**

**_'I am sure they are ssssorry, but is my friend really going to die?'_ Ares asked the snake anxiously.**

**The serpent considered for a moment, and in that brief silence, to Ares and everyone else's horror, Shadow began to shake and hyperventilate, and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, Jay caught her in time, and Coal assisted him in getting Shadow to sit down.**

**The snake then replied, _'Sssshe may only be cured by one thing.'_**

**_'Name it,' _Ares said immediately.**

**_'The poisssson can be cancelled by a ssssecond bite from the ssssame Illinois Rattler.'_**

**_'Will you cure her?'_ asked Ares pleadingly, as he heard, Coal exclaim that Shadow had stopped breathing, and Jay began C.P.R.**

**_'No.'_**

**_'WHY!'_ Ares demanded.**

**_'Becausssse I do not feel like it,' _the Viper hissed in annoyance.**

**Unconsciously, Ares let out a furious surge of raw magical energy. _'You will cure her!'_**

**The serpent regarded him with much more interest._ 'Maybe you are not weak like other humanssss. Your friendssss are powerful, and it would be a shame to have the pretty Elvin girl die. She remindssss me of my old masssster._ _I shall cure her and become your familiar,'_ the snake dictated imperiously.**

**Not really caring what the snake had said after 'I shall cure her,' Ares nodded impatiently, and picked the snake up and carefully moved it next to Shadow, who was looking alarmingly pale.**

**Leaning down, Ares took his friend's hand in his and whispered in her ear, taking care to make sure that the others could hear what he was saying, too. "Shadow? Hey, you nut. I spoke to the snake, and it told me the only way to cure you, but you're going to have to trust me, got that? You have to trust me. Squeeze my hand if you trust me." Without hesitation, Ares felt the dark-haired girl squeeze his fingers as hard as she could, which was not very.**

**He turned to the snake, and offered it Shadow's tanned wrist. The Rattler bit into the unblemished skin, and the elves gasped. Shadow merely shivered slightly, but did not pull away from Ares. The serpent let go, and slithered off a few feet to avoid being trampled.**

**"Shadow? Are you okay?" Fire asked as she moved to join the group, tears sliding down her face.**

**"Will you lot quit fussing over me?" Shadow muttered as she rubbed her wrist, trying to get to her feet. **

**After Ares was positive that Shadow was okay, he turned back to the patch of forest floor that the Viper had chosen to wait out the chaos, and spoke. _'Thankssss for helping my friend. You are welcome to live with me if you wissssh. What is your name?'_**

**_'Name? Hmm... thissss I do not have. I want one of thesssse_ namessss' the snake declared.**

**"How about Ivy?"**

**Ares, the snake, and everyone else in the clearing spun around to stare at Shadow in surprise.**

**"You can _understand_ it?" asked Jay, amazed that the girl could follow a conversation of hisses that were starting to give him headaches.**

**Shadow blinked, looking surprised. "I can?"**

**_'Yessss, another ssssnake-child,'_ the Rattler hissed gleefully. Then it paused then swore very loudly a word that Ares wasn't familiar with. _'My appologiessss for biting you, ssssnake-child! I sssshould have recognized the blood of the ssssnakessss russsshing threw your vainssss."_**

**"Err... That's- okay?" Shadow responded awkwardly.**

**"Where did you get that name, Shadow?" asked Fire, curiously.**

**"Oh! She was hidden in a vine of Ivy when I rushed into the clearing when Fire screamed." explained Shadow." I suppose I might have accidentally stepped on her rattle... sorry!"**

**_'We are even, then, ssssnake-child. And I like thissss word. Ivy. Yessss, I like it very much,'_ the newly dubbed 'Ivy' crooned. From then on, Ivy followed him wherever he went. **

**Now, three years later, she was still as annoying and irritating as ever.**

Ares shook his head to clear it of memories as he approached the familiar door to the throne room. Straitening his clothes once again, he places his palm on the scanner, and the door slid open.

After he walked threw it, he was surprised to see that four very familiar people were seated near Ashleigh in the room already and waiting for him.

"Hello, Ares," Ashleigh's calm voice said. "Please be seated."

Ares bowed respectfully before answering, "Greetings, Queen Ashleigh." He then obeyed Ashleigh request, and sank onto the empty chair next to Fire, who winked at him before giving her attention back to Ashleigh.

"As you all know," Ashleigh began, standing from the throne, and pacing. "There is a war brewing in the wizarding world. Normally, we of the Wood-Elf clans would not be concerned. Humans have stirred up trouble before now, and we have successfully stayed out of it. But this war, I feel, we cannot skirt around. I think it would be in our best interest to have a group of our most skilled brothers and sisters to go as a delegation to the wizarding world, and to gain some information about this war. This is why I have called you four here. Sapphire, Jake, Kcoalia, Shadayo, and Ares: I would like to ask you to do this for us all. What say you?"

The five friends sat in a startled silence for a second. Coal, always the first to recover, got to her feet and said, "I would be honored to fulfill this task for my clan, Queen Ashleigh." She placed her hand over her heart, and Ashleigh nodded gratefully at her.

Ares joined her after she was done, only second due to the shock of the question. He too stood, and repeated the pledge with his hand over his heart as well.

Sapphire joined her friends standing with enthusiasm, and said the pledge strongly with her hand in the same fashion.

Jake's expression was totally serious as he stood with the other three, and chanted the code back solemnly, also with his palm firmly over his heart.

Shadow, ever the first to think things threw and the last to make commitments, stood a second or so after Jake, copied the hand movement, and said, "I, too, would be honored to fulfill this task for my clan, Queen Ashleigh."

Ashleigh smiled proudly at them all, and stated "you have all shone great bravery and loyalty to your family, and we all wish you the best of luck. Please pack you belongings and say your farewells. You depart for the wizarding world together at the Sun's first sixth tomorrow morning. I shall meet you here to give you your instructions. Dismissed."

The five friends trooped off to go pack, chatting quietly and wondering what was in store for them.

Meanwhile, the wizarding world went about their day, unknowing that in a few short hours, their world would be shaken to its core.

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Another chapter! Yesss! Hope you all liked it! Please read and review!

**Master of Random Disaster**


	5. A Dramatic Entrance Is The ONLY Entrance

**jka1: Thanks! I'm trying to be as consistent as possible with the updates, by the way, and I'm trying to get them as long as possible before posting them. **

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**Disclaimer:** I own what you don't recognize! All else is simply borrowed.

Before I forget:

**(0)(o)(0)** A time laps, or different location.

Also, the Familiars can talk to their humans and vice versa. But since Shadow, Coal, Fire, Jay, and Ares have a telepathic link, the familiars can talk to other humans other then their own. Example:

Coal's familiar says "I think we should go right." Jake answers, "No, left." So then Ares says "we need to go strait!" then Shadow's familiar can say "everyone shut up!" Then Ivy can say, "Sssstupid, incompetent, idiotssss" aloud, and no one can understand her except Shadow and Ares who know Parseltongue. So even though Ivy, the snake familiar, can converse normally on the mental link with the others, only Shadow and Ares can understand Parseltongue when it is spoken aloud. It may be confusing for you, but hopefully you'll catch on.

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**CHAPTER 5: THE ONLY ENTRANCE IS A _DRAMATIC_ ENTRANCE **

"So! Off to the Wizarding World, Hmmm?" Sky commented. She had been waiting for Ares in his room to help him pack, and to chat.

"Yes m'am," Ares confirmed. Opening his multi-compartment truck he had received for his birthday last year, Ares began to survey his room carefully, considering what he should take.

"You realize that you must reveal that you are also Harry Potter, right?"

Ares gave a disgruntled sigh as he began to walk around the room, collecting some of his more important book, pictures, and other assorted items to pack away in their respective trunk compartments. "Why do you insist on so much drama?" Ares wondered. "A lot of good that will do me. I won't be able to walk two feet before some loud-mouth shouts, 'Oy! Look! It's Harry Potter!' and everyone'll mob me!"

Skyler chuckled her amusement, and shifted her pure-silver wings into a more comfortable position before responding. "Don't worry, my dear little Ares," Sky teased, noting affectionately how her son's face pulled into a grimace at the word 'little'. "I'm sure they'll think twice about coming anywhere near you for several reasons! One," Sky put up a finger, "you'll have Coal in the near vicinity, and she was always rather..._active_ in making her displeasure of large groups of idiots converging on her or her friends known. Two," she put up another finger, "Ivy was never one to let anything jostling her, and has _painfully_ noticeable ways of expressing it. And three," she put up another finger, "you're not so fun to deal with yourself when people annoy you. You're instructors have noticed you have uncomfortably good aim with a sword. 'Almost nailed them a few times," Sky finished off, smiling proudly at the now blushing Ares.

"... Anyways," Ares said, changing the topic. "Ashleigh said we leave in the morning. Is anyone accompanying us and making sure Jay doesn't prank the world senseless, Fire doesn't out-cheer the inventor of the Cheering Charm, Coal doesn't make a nun swear, and Shadow doesn't over mood-swing a Bipolar?"

Sky smirked, and said, "Nah. You're going to have to baby-sit full time, dear. Ashleigh seems to feel that you can handle yourselves." A flash of pride swelled from Ares' heart. Ashleigh trusted him completely! "-and so you're going to have to save the world from general insanity by the rest of your troops." Skyler was saying.

"Mmmm..." Ares mused, heading for his closet, and intending to empty it in into his trunk.

"Nope, my dear," Sky admonished gently, making him look at her in confusion. "We can't have you running around in your Elvin clothes. You'd stick out like a soar thumb." She waved her hand in an arch, and a rush of Elvin magic swept him in what felt like a cool breeze. When it had passed, Skyler explained. "This is what you will be wearing for the duration of your stay with the Wizards." Ares looked down at his clothes and raised an eyebrow.

He now wore a deep emerald-colored wizard's cloak with elegant silver embroidery of miniature Ivy leaves and Illinois Rattlers on the edges. Under his cloak, Ares wore a fitting jet-black T-shirt, and equally dark jeans with a silvery belt. Ivy hissed in annoyance at the suddenness of the spell, and called Sky some rather creative names that Ares wasn't sure the snake would have the courage to say if the Elvin-angel could understand her words, as she slithered down onto the floor with Sky's apology. On his forearm, concealed by his sleeve, was a sky-blue wand holster that was empty since Ares didn't need a wand.

When he questioned Sky about it, the Elvin-angel visibly winced, and muttered that Ashleigh would explain it the next morning. Shrugging it off as unimportant, he continued to chat with Sky as he did every night before he went to bed. He asked her what she knew of the wizarding world, and where he was being sent unparticular. Skyler told him that she didn't know where he would be sent exactly except that it was somewhere in England, and proceeded to tell him about the country's current events.

"... Just enjoyed a good scandal, actually." Sky informed him. "Apparently, this guy named Sirius Black was sent to some sort of jail without a trial because of some trouble a few years back. Then, a guy named Peter Pettigrew was caught being an unregistered animagus or something, and Sirius was given a huge apology and compensation. But Fudge didn't get off so easy. All the countries that he had warned about Sirius were rather horrified at the idea that someone was sent to the dementors without even a _trial _of all things. The French Minister personally port keyed over, and started yelling in his native language. If I didn't hate Fudge's guts, I would have took pity on the poor bloke and translated. But the French Minister decided a good slap across the face was a rather universal understanding.

"And those Americans in the United States are really vocal about it, too. A very self-righteous lot, they are. 'Sent loads of howler, from what Ambrosial said. Started going on about 'what part of innocent until proven guilty' did he not understand, and if he had 'ever heard of Varituserum'. At least _those_ Americans only cause damage to his ego, to be fare. The _South_ Americans in Chile, Brazil, and the like, however, were a little less for talking, and very enthusiastic on cursed letters. Good for them!" Sky beamed.

Ares snickered as he finished packing all his new 'uniforms' Sky had given him (about ten of them), and closed his trunk He shrunk it, and put it in his pocket before announcing, "Think I'm done."

"Good. Go to bed!" Sky ordered cheerfully. Ares didn't bother to complain. Skyler was _very_ stubborn when she ordered him about on his health.

"'Night, Sky," Ares said, after giving Sky a hug on her way out the door.

"'Night, Re. Good luck on your mission." She said, returning the gesture before leaving the room...

**(0)(o)(0) **

The next morning was an excited affair, and Ares nearly ran into Jay as he was about to enter the throne room.

"Ouch!" the two had whined in mutual agreement, before getting to their feet, then really spotting each other.

"Nice robes, Dude." Jay smirked.

"You too," Ares retorted.

To them, of course, the idea of wearing a cloak every time they left their house was a real joke; not to mention extremely impractical. Ares was wearing the outfit that Sky had given him the night before, and saw that Jay's was rather similar in style in comparison. The only differences were really that: instead of an emerald green cloak with ivy leaves and snakes, Jay's was blood red with gold embroidery of miniature maple leaves and blue jays. Instead of a jet-black T-shirt, he wore a dark-red T-shirt and brown belt, though he wore the same plain black jeans as Ares. He also had a tree-bark brown wand holster on his forearm, but he seemed to be completely at a loss about what to do with it, and had even put it on backwards.

Jay's Blue-Jay familiar, Jaylin, settled back atop the sandy-haired boy's head before Ares pushed open the door. They found their 3 other friends inside already, all chatting merrily. Even Coal wasn't being a sarcastic demon, and was genuinely excited about taking a trip outside the world she had known her whole life.

Fire was wearing a knee-length sapphire-blue skirt and equally blue shirt, a gold-colored wand holster, and a long sunshine-yellow cloak with gold embroidery of miniature lilies and Beagles. She held her little Beagle familiar, Lily, in her lap, and was petting the dog's excited head with her right hand as she chatted on with Coal and Shadow.

Coal wore a lavender shirt, and a dark (clearly opposing her will) knee-length skirt with her wand holster being silver. She also had a dark purple cloak with silver embroidery featuring miniature roses with thorns still attached, and ravens poised for flight. Her pure-black Raven familiar, Damien, was perched on her shoulder, and gazing around alertly as Coal conversed.

And finally there was Shadow, who wore a navy-blue shirt, and matching skirt. Over this was an inky-black cloak with bright yellow embroidery of miniature poison oak leaves, and crouching wolves. Standing dutifully next to her chair was her silver-black wolf familiar, Jupiter, whom she petted absently as she listened to Fire saying something.

"Hey, guys!" Jay called loudly over to the three girls. They and their familiars all looked around at him, and the girls greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hey, Jay! Hey Ares!"

"'Sup, Re 'n Jay-Jay?"

"Caption and Pranks-allot! You grace us with your sparkling presences."

"Coal!" Jay exclaimed with mock hurt. "I thought you _weren't_ going to be a prat today!" He ducked a swing at his head made by the girl, and tactically hid behind Fire, who giggled as Lily licked his face.

"Good morning everyone!" a voice called from the doorway. They all jumped, and spun around to see Ashleigh and Aurora striding towards them with their usual grace.

"Good morning, Queen Ashleigh." They all chorused at her with grins.

"Now, I see that you are all on time, very good. Now, are there any questions before you leave? Time is of the essence." Ashleigh said. Jay raised his hand in the air, and Aurora nodded at him.

Jay spoke hesitantly, and said, "Well, you see, there was this_ thing_ my mother gave me last night, and I have no idea what it is." He took out his wand holster, and waved it around in the air, clueless. Shadow, Fire, and Coal also took theirs out and looked at Ashleigh expectantly, who seemed to steal herself to say something.

"Those are wand holsters," she finally said. "You will use wands where you are headed."

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Coal muttered, putting her holster away disdainfully. Ashleigh raised a brown at her, and Aurora growled threateningly. Damien shifted uncomfortably at the noise, and Coal shut her mouth with a loud _clink_.

"You will also need these." Ashleigh explained, and crystals the color of their respective eyes, tied around a length of black ribbon, appeared on the necks of the five friend's familiars. "They are transport stones that will send you here if you are in danger. To activate them, simply say the word 'transport,' and then the name of yourself and your familiar. You shall then be safely sent here. More questions? No? Good. May your skills and knowledge keep you from danger. Head out." The five bowed, and Wind Shifted (which is like apperating) to the location Ashleigh gave them.

**(0)(o)(0) **

Hundreds of miles away, the Elvin warriors and their familiars landed gracefully on their feet, and checked themselves over.

"So this is where we have landed," Damien sneered, landing on a nearby tree branch.

"It seems so," replied Ivy.

"'Love what they've done with the place," commented Jay dryly, as he eyed the decrepit building they stood near with dislike.

"It smells fascinating," exclaimed Lily, sniffing meaningfully at a patch of weed-covered sidewalk that led to the house's front door.

"We aren't going in there," said Ares, looking at the map Ashleigh had given him. "We're going to a place called '_Hogwarts_'." the others stared at him in disbelief.

"Who in their _right mind_ would name a town after a wild pig's _facial blemishes_?" demanded Shadow. The others nodded their agreement.

"It's not a town," Ares offered. "It's a castle."

"These wizards are mad," said Coal flatly.

"Yes, but Ashleigh isn't. We had better get moving. It's already 7:03 AM," Ivy reminded them.

As the group made their way past the now-identified Shrieking Shack, and down the road towards 'Hogwarts', they talked rapidly threw their mental link about what the wizards' reaction would be to their arrival. Soon, they were threw the gates of the school, and walking up the sloping lawns, then came to a halt before the front door of the castle. Without hesitation, Shadow and Jupiter combined their energy and power threw their bond, and unlocked the heavily spelled door without so much as blinking. Once they reached the door that separated the Entrance Hall from the great hall, they heard loud voices coming from within.

"Maybe we shouldn't all go in at _once_." suggested Fire.

"Yah... One person should go in, get the Headmaster, and bring him out here to explain." Ivy slithered down from Ares to hover just a foot or so above the floor** (A/N: Illinois Rattlers have the ability to 'swim' threw the air, so to speak, to avoid having to be on the ground and wearing out their scales on their underbellies)** to join the others as they all sized each other up before Jay smirked, and exchanged a glance with Jaylin, who twittered in amusement.

"Who looks the most mysterious this morning?" asked Jay, innocently.

"Who has the scariest familiar?" put in Coal. Immediately, everyone gave each other headaches by screaming their opinions threw the link.

_Ares _is wearing green and black-!"

"_Jupiter_ scares everyone out of their _wits_-!"

"_Coal's_ scowl would make a grown Elf cry-!"

"Enough!" Ares exclaimed. Everyone looked at him. "Let's _vote_."

"All in favor of Ares, speak now, or forever hold you peace!" Ares scowled at Fire, who had spoken, when all hands (paws, wings, tails, and the like) rose simultaneously to meet the question.

"Off you go, then!" said Lily cheerfully, nudging him toward the door with her nose.

Ares scowled, and said aloud, "I hate you all." His friend's all smirked at him in turn. "Well... Here we go." Pulling his cloak's hood up to hid his face, he slouched towards the door.

"What's wrong with you, man?" Jay barked. "A good prank must be executed with a proud and mischievous posture!"

Ares, who had his back to Jay, made a very rude hand gesture over his shoulder. The last thing he heard before opening the door was a loud snort of amusement from his friends.

"Well, here goes nothing," Ares commented dryly. Gathering his courage, he reached for the door, and flung it open with a loud _Bang! _and strode into the room...

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Yesss! Another chapter full of explanations and arguing! Next chapter is the confrontation! How will everyone react!

Also: You may have noticed, but Jupiter doesn't say much while everyone else is chatting on about who cares what. I have not forgotten him. He just doesn't talk much, with or without the link. There are a lot of new characters being introduced into the story at unexpected moments, and I know that it might be sort of hard to keep up. There won't be _too_ many more, but then, I love to mess around with different characters.

R&R

**Master of Random Disaster**


	6. The James Look Alike and Confrontations

Just incase some of you haven't yet worked it out; this story doesn't follow J.K's books. It's totally AU (alternate universe). And instead of individual messages that take forever to do, I'm going to say thank you to all my reviewers in general. THANK YOU! Hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter characters!

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**CHAPTER 6: The James Look-Alike and Confrontations**

Albus Dumbledore was currently sitting in the Great Hall for dinner, sipping his soup as he listened to the content chatter of his students and fellow Professors.

It had been a rather uneventful day of preparing for the return of the students, and sorting out the curriculum aims set by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Sirius Black, bless his soul, had agreed to fill the yet again vacant Defense post after having his name cleared this past summer.

Unfortunately, Sirius would have far to much to do in setting up his classes, so the idea that Albus had entertained of a dueling club this year was sadly impossible.

Suddenly a loud _BANG!_ Interrupted his thoughts. Dumbledore's eyes snapped to the Great Hall's main doors which had been fling open to admit a tall figure dressed in an emerald green cloak with the hood pulled down to obscure it's face. What had Dumbledore concerned, however, was the powerful magical aura radiating from the figure that by far exceeded his own. The person's stride was full of grace and confidence, as well as swift and alert.

"Who are you?" Albus demanded, swirling his own aura around him in an attempt to intimidate the powerful stranger. The Professors drew their wands and leveled them at the figure.

"Relax old man. I'm not here to hurt you." A man's voice drawled from inside the folds of the cloak.

"Show yourself!" Albus insisted, recognizing that this man was in no way, shape, or form buying his act.

The stranger sighed. "If I must."

The second the hood fell off the man's face, there were numerous reactions that varied far and wide around the room. Many of the staff members gasped, thinking that James Potter had somehow come back from the dead and was now standing in front of them. The female students gave longing sighs and starry-eyed looks to the handsome black haired, emerald eyed man as he proceeded down the hall toward the staff table. Sirius Black was the closest to the truth, however, though not quit on.

'Is that James with Lily's eyes?' Sirius though dazedly.

"I think this discussion would be best continued elsewhere, Headmaster." The James look-alike pointed out.

Albus shook himself slightly, the twinkle in his eyes on full blast, and responded, "Yes. Professors Black, Snape, McGonagall and Sprout; please come with me."

And so, a few minutes later, they all found themselves seated in the Headmaster's office; being offered a_ lemon drop_ no less.

"So, that was quite an entrance, Mr. Potter-!" the Headmaster began, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"Yeah, Ares! You should stop being such an attention hog!" smirked Jake. In reality he knew fully that his friend hated having people stare at him, and getting attention in general; except if it was attention from Skyler or Ashleigh. Jake loved to jokingly call him a mama's boy whenever he could get away with it.

"You are far to conceded!" Fire agreed, tugging on a lock of Ares' windswept hair.

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Good because it was suppose to be an insult."

"It wasn't even my fault that I came in during their breakfast, anyway! It was you lot who pushed me threw the door-!" Ares protested.

The Potions Master sneered. "_Just_ like a Potter, you are. Always blaming others for your own mistakes-"

"_Just_ like a Snape _you _are," Coal fired back on her friend's behalf. "Always accusing people of random things when you don't even know what that person is capable of."

"I have a pretty good idea. Strutting into the Great Hall like he owns the place, and dragging us all away from our meals to hear _him_-" Snape was suddenly cut off by an unpleasant shriek-like laugh from Shadow.

"Puh-lease! You stalked out of that Hall cloak billowing like there was no tomorrow!"

That comment was all it took to ignite a very loud debate... actually, debate wasn't the right word. More like a free-for-all. It was brought to a halt a moment or so later by someone making a very loud and shrill whistle. Everyone blinked dazedly, and looked around.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." said Albus softly. "Now, what I wish to know is where you have been these past few years, Mr. Potter. Our attendance roster still had you down for Hogwarts, but couldn't send a letter because the auto-quill with the locating charm always malfunctioned when asked to give your coordinates."

"Well, _Professor_," Ares sneered. "First off, my name is not _Mr. Potter_. My title is officially Prince Ares, but my _name_ is simply Ares. As to where I have been, I assure you that it is hardly any of your business. All _you _need to know is that I have been raised in capable hands after being removed from those demons you call the Dursleys."

There was a rather tense silence until it was mercifully broken by Professor Sprout, who asked, "And who are your charming friends, Ares?"

The Headmaster, grateful for a change of atmosphere and an answer to one of his many questions, listened closely as Harry (he refused to call Lily and James' son anything else)introduced his four companions.

"Well, this is Jake..." Harry said.

On queue, the young Elf stepped forward and nodded, eyeing Albus thoughtfully.

"Sapphire..."

The blonde Elvin girl stepped forward, giving Dumbledore a politely curious look.

"Kcoalia..."

A dark haired girl didn't bother to step up, but gave him a swift and calculating look from where she stood.

"And finally, Shadayo." Harry finished.

Like the girl before her, Shadayo didn't move. Her disgusted glare, however, was far more hostile then any of her companions with the exception of Harry's.

"A pleasure." Albus said weakly. That last girl was rather frightening. He would be keeping an eye on her.

"Headmaster, Potter is still avoiding the question. What were you these past few years?" Snape demanded forcefully, taking a step towards the green-eyed boy with a furious expression.

Ares' eyes narrowed, and suddenly the Potions Master was blasted off his feet and landed 4 yards away.

"I will not tolerate your attitude, Snape. And once again, it's _Ares_. I will not continue to remind you." he said coolly.

Albus quickly jumped in. "So, if you five wish to stay here at the castle, then it can be arranged. In fact, I was just saying to Professor Black this morning that a Dueling Club would be beneficiary to the students. What say you?"

Jake nodded slowly. "I think that could be done. But five teaching one class?"

"We can split the students into groups," Sapphire suggested. "That way, we can each teach them something different."

"Excellent. Well, I shall escort you to your quarters. And Sirius? Please wait to speak to Mr. Potter- err, Ares, that is, in the morning at breakfast. I dare say that he and his friends have much to do this afternoon." Sirius nodded reluctantly, and the Professors departed to their quarters with the exception of Albus, who led the five Warriors up to the fourth floor.

He stopped in front of a large portrait of what appeared to be a Veela standing in a forest clearing, its hair fluttering in a non-existent breeze.

"Password?" she asked in a melodic voice, eyeing Ares lustfully.

"Gummy Bears," said Albus cheerfully. Coal made a face behind his back, and Jay sniggered.

The Veela nodded, and swung forward, but not before throwing Ares a seductive wink. Inside was a common room with neutral colored couches, chairs, and rugs. Portraits lined the walls, and Ares immediately recognized four painting's occupants unparticular. In a cheerful yellow frame was Helga Hufflepuff, watching them enter and giving them a small wave in greeting. To her left was a deep blue framed Rowena Ravenclaw, who wore a friendly smile on her face. To her right was a bright red frame containing a portrait of Godric Gryffindor, who smirked mischievously at the group. To Gryffindor left was a jewel green frame with a painting of Salazar Slytherin, who scowled heavily at them all.

"This will be your Common Room, where you may meet, talk and what not. Those staircases-" he motioned to two staircases on opposite side of the room "-lead to the boy's dorms on the left and the girl's on the right. You may change the password at any time. Your classroom is on the third floor, next to the statue of a large dragon. I shall leave how you teach the lessons up to you. Your times tables will be given to you tomorrow morning at breakfast. So, questions? No? Good. I shall see you at lunch; or dinner if you are to busy. You can get lunch delivered here by snapping you fingers twice, and a house-elf will appear." Dumbledore bowed himself out of the room, and a silence fell in his wake.

Finally Sapphire burst out, "what does he mean house-_elf_? Are elves _enslaved_ here-?"

Coal scowled. "Sapphire, get over it. _House-elves_ are not _real_ elves. No self-respecting elf would serve a _human_."

"And what's wrong with being a human? _I'm_ human!" exclaimed Ares.

"You don't count." Jake declared.

"Why?"

"Give it a rest, people!" hollered Salazar Slytherin from his frame.

"Yeah, you're giving me a headache." Godric Gryffindor agreed.

The five friends all gasped in amazement, and rushed over to get a closer look at the paintings.

"Oh my gosh!" Sapphire squealed, poking Helga Hugglepuff's canvas in wonderment. "They move!"

"No kidding." Slytherin quipped.

Jake rolled his eyes, and said, "Now you have some competition for the title of Single Most Arrogant Bitch in the World award, Coal."

Everyone snickered as Coal and Slytherin gave Jake identical glares.

"Scary." Gryffindor muttered from his portrait, shaking his head at the two.

"So what brings you here, younglings?" asked Ravenclaw.

And so the nine chatted about random things for awhile with the occasional glaring contest between Coal and Slytherin.

"Well," Hufflepuff said, glancing at the clock adorning the opposite wall. "You lot have some lesson planning to do. Off you go!" And just like that, all four portraits became inanimate once more.

After a moment of staring in surprise, the visitors shook themselves slightly, and elected to go see their classroom.

"Let's go!" Sapphire exclaimed, dragging Jay out the portrait hole, much to the other's amusement.

As they walked down the halls at leisure, they noticed that it was oddly quiet. Not what you'd expect from a school full of children. Finding the correct door, they opened it to see their new classroom.

It was... _dull_ for want of a better word. It was a medium-sized room with a very fine coat of dust had settled on the desks and chairs. The air was musty like an old library, and the walls were bare.

"Looks like we have work to do," commented Ares dryly.

"Nah," said Jake with a smirk, waving the comment away. "We'll use a quick Visualizing Spell."

Ares nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. Visualizing spells transformed rooms into a certain way that you picture in your mind. The details of the room depended on how vivid the caster's imagination was. And how much magical strength one held, of course.

"I'm thinking... Red," Jake stated.

At the exact same time, the room's other occupants said "Blue!" "Green!" "Yellow!" "Purple!" "Pink!"

"You can't vote twice," Shadow protested.

"Says who?" Sapphire wined.

"Me!" everyone in the room chorused.

Fire pouted. "Fine."

"Rock-Paper-Scissors!" Jay suggested.

In the end, and after several tantrums made by various people, the room was clean, fresh-smelling, and a light beige color

"Not bad," commented Jay, admiring their work.

Coal snorted. "If you ask me, we should be more concerned about what our mission was then how to paint a classroom."

"Good thing I didn't ask you then," responded Jay cheekily.

"Anyway," Fire interrupted. "This _is_ our mission, too. As stupid as some of the wizarding population is, that give us no excuse to want these children to die at Voldemort's hands."

"Well said!" Jake said in a mock pompous tone.

"Anyways, what are we going to teach them tomorrow?" Fire wondered.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Shadow remarked. Judging by the blank looks she received, it probably wasn't. The girl smirked.

"We're going to wing it."

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Tada! A day or so late, but, there it is! Hope you all enjoy it! I'm thinking about adding a little romance to the story. What's everyone's take on that? Please let me know!


	7. How To Be Paranoid 101

**Disclaimer:** Owning nothing up in here!

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**CHAPTER 7: How to Be Paranoid 101**

The next morning was a blur of preparations, Jay's pranks, Shadow's hexes, Coal's scorn, and he and Fire running around to keep them all in line.

The Warriors were so busy, that they had to skip breakfast and have their times tables delivered to them in their rooms as they discussed how to best introduce themselves to the class. After a little brainstorming, the five came up with something that was sure-fire to get the students to pay attention.

Despite all this activity, the group's first Dueling lesson rolled around at exactly 8:00 A.M. When the bell rang, the students strut inside to find a seemingly empty classroom.

"Maybe the teacher ditched!" a tall red-haired boy yelled. His classmates snickered as they lazily took seats and began to talk.

"Oh! That's the cutest little kitty I've ever seen!" a dark-haired girl exclaimed, pointing at a small midnight-black kitten with purple and silver eyes where it rested on the teacher's desk in a basket. The cat watched the girl closely as she approached its desk, cooing odd phrases in a baby-voice.

"And check out that totally wicked-looking dog over there!" The loud red-haired boy yelled, pointing at a black-silver canine with dark-light eyes that stood almost completely hidden in the shadows of a large dueling platform.

"No, mate! That's a real wolf!" a boy with a strong Irish accent jumped in eagerly, stepping forward for a closer look.

"Oh my goodness! Look at that fox!" a bushy-haired girl squealed, pointing to the amber-eyed, slate-gray animal as it groomed itself on the professor's chair.

"Forget that! Look at that sweet little turtle dove on the chandelier!" a blonde girl said, pointing upward at the dark-brown aqua-eyed bird.

For a few minutes the students exclaimed over the four animals; some going as far as to pet the creatures. But that was all brought to a close as the door banged open, and the dark-haired green-eyed boy from the Great Hall last night strode into the room.

"What are you all _doing_?" he demanded of the students, nonplus.

Flushing with embarrassment, the class took their seats, and the boy ran a hand threw his hair in exasperation.

"I can't believe my entire first period class failed!" he exclaimed.

The class moaned about the unfairness of it all. "Sir! We haven't done anything yet! How can we have failed anything?" the bushy-haired girl wailed.

"Let me ask you something, Ms. Granger." the dark-haired boy started, ignoring her gasp of surprise when he addressed her by her name without being told what it was. "Did anyone every tell you not to pet strange animals?"

"Who are you calling 'strange'?" the class gasped as the four animals they had been admiring transformed into four teenagers. The sandy-haired boy who had spoken stuck his tongue out at them all, and dusted off his cloak.

"He wasn't talking about _me_." a blonde-haired girl huffed. "I'm 'a sweet turtle dove' after all."

"Well he couldn't have been talking to_ me." the dark-light eyed girl said dramatically. "I'm 'totally wicked-looking' after all." _

A purple/silver-eyed girl scoffed slightly, not offering any commentary as she sulked in the background.

"But it couldn't have been _you_, Coal." the sandy-haired boy remarked, smirking. "Because you _are '_the cutest little kitty I've ever seen'!"

As the four others snickered, 'Coal' scowled. "I'm not _cute_. I'm dangerous!"

"Which brings us all back to: you all fail test number one." the dark-haired boy explained, no longer laughing. "Now let us introduce ourselves. I am Ares-"

"-Sapphire-" the blue-eyed girl interrupted.

"-Jake-" another said.

"-Shadayo-" a girl acknowledged.

"-Coal." the last finished.

"We will be instructing you for the next year. Get used to it. Now, I wish for us to be _very_ clear on something." Ares stopped for a dramatic pause. "After the next few hours, you will hate me. After the next few days, you will despise me. After the next few weeks, you will loathe me with every fiber of your being. In the next few months, I expect to have a highly paid assassin after my blood. You will dislike this class_ that_ much." the Dueling instructors smiled around at them all.

"Any questions?" he added as an afterthought, taking personal satisfaction that his students looked to be on the verge of wetting themselves.

"Good." Sapphire continued. "Now, you are fifth years, right?"- The class nodded -"In that case, I would also like to tell you that by the end of the year, you will step out these doors changed people. You will be_ paranoid_. You will be _suspicious_. You will be schizophrenic in every enthusiastic interpretation of the damn word!-"

"-You will be bloody delusional bastards who hex first, ask questions later." Shadow cut in.

"You will be skeptical about your own _underpants_ for heaven's _sake_!" Jake roared.

"You people will think twice about going to the _bathroom_ if we have anything to say about it!" Coal snarled.

"**But you will be _ALIVE_**!" the five screamed at the class, who looked very alarmed.

"We can teach you how to duck, roll, dodge, aim, shoot, fire, think, plan and lead! From us, you can learn what questions to ask, what skills you have dormant inside of you, how to awaken them, and how to **_PERSERVER_ PEOPLE**!" Shadow snapped, slamming her fist on the red-haired boy's desk for emphasis. He gulped when she removed her hand to reveal a deep dent in the hard wooden surface.

"However, there is something we will not _make_ you do," Ares added. "And that is: show up. If at any time you decide that this class is too much for you to handle, then you may leave. Do _not_, however, even _attempt_ to re-enter this classroom once you have gone. If you try, then you will be unceremoniously sent away because not one of us will sympathize with your plight; I assure you."

"This class is a privilege." Coal said icily. "_Not_ a right. And like all privileges, they can be taken away easily... By _us_. The five of us will say who stays and who goes. If you appeal to the Headmaster: he cannot override us. If you send a request to your head of house: they cannot override us. And if you appeal to your DADA professor..."

"He cannot override you." the class chanted back.

"Very good." Jake smirked. "So let's start with aim. Everyone, wands out and form three lines in front of the targets; if you will. You will be attempting to hit as close to the center of your target as possible. The reason I say _attempt_ is because I fully expect you to fail."

"We will not be sugar-coating words in this class." Coal told them. "The real world won't hold your hand, and neither will we. Deal with it."

"Okay, first up are Ms. _Padma_ Patil, Ms. Greengrass, and Mr. Malfoy." Sapphire said in a board tone. "Aim for your targets, which are 20 feet away, with a Stunning spell, and the ring that you hit will light up. Fire!"

Three cries of _stupefy_ echoed threw the room. Two red lights rushed at the targets. One red light hit the very last outside ring of a target.

"Ms. Patil: good aim needs a little practice though, and more force behind the spell next time so it doesn't fizzle out halfway there again. Ms. Greengrass: Not bad. You hit the target at the very least and it was strong all way threw, though you could work on your aiming. Mr. Malfoy: What exactly _were_ you aiming at, because I can only hope that you weren't trying for the target or else that would have been a very tragic shot indeed." Coal drawled.

The Gryffindor students laughed at the pink-faced Slytherin's horrible shot, not noticing Ares' amused smirk as they did so.

"Poor sods have no idea what they just got themselves into," he said from his seat on the teacher's desk, leaning lazily against Sapphire, who was sitting next to him. She patted his head with a grin as they watched Shadow scowl heavily, and stalk over to the Gryffindor group

"There's a Storm brewing," Jake commented as he retreated over to the desk, referring to Shadow's nickname when she was angry.

"No kidding. Storm is an elf possessed about the importance of good aim." Coal said dryly.

"You heading for cover too? I thought _you_ were tough enough to handle her tirade." Ares observed.

Coal snorted as she seated herself gracefully on a chair. "I'm sorry to report that I am _neither stupid nor_ suicidal."

Ares was saved from responding by Shadow's voice carrying across the room. "-Since you seem to be very comfortable with_ your_ aim, Mr. Weasley, by all means, show us how it's done!" she was saying.

Storm's latest victim looked decidedly green as he stumbled up to the 20-foot line from the targets. He took one last look around, but no one was going to save him. Raising his wand, he shut one eye to take aim, but his wand was snatched away before he could fire.

"Rule number 1, Weasley. Keep both eyes open while shooting. _You'll see twice as well_." Shadow offered the wand again, and the red-head repeated the procedure, taking care to keep both eyes wide open.

"_Stupefy_!" he yelled, waving his wand wildly. The red light shot out of his wand and crashed into a stack of books about 10 feet to the left of the desired target.

"That, Weasley, boarder lined pathetic." Shadow stated without preamble. "As you can see, you have no room to comment on other's spell work. I highly doubt that you could hit the Great Wall of China if you stood 3 feet from it."

"Let that be a lesson to all of you. Watch what you say in this classroom unless you think you can back it up. Now... Everyone continue to practice. We-" she cast an irritated look over at her fellow Warriors where they were slacking by the teacher's desk. The snapped to attention and stood up, trying to look alert. "-will be walking around and correcting your aim."

And that was really how it went the rest of the period. A few minutes before the bell was due to ring, Ares brought his hand to his mouth and whistled sharply. Dead silence followed, since the students were starting to understand that disrespect made _bad_ things happen.

"For you're homework, you will practice your aim. We shall know if you have decided to blow this task off. You have been warned."

As if on cue, the bell rang, causing everyone to jump. The students hastily gathered their things and walked out of the room quickly, trying not to make eye-contact with their instructors so as not to invoke their wrath. One student, however, lingered behind.

"Professors?" the bushy-haired girl asked uncertainly.

"You may call us just by our names outside of class," Jake said calmly, motioning for her to take a seat, as did the other professors.

"Well then you can call me Hermione." the girl said shyly.

"Well, then, how can we help you, Hermione?" Sapphire asked warmly.

"Well, I was just wondering, how come you five are so experienced but still the same age as me?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Ah, well. Different environment growing up, mostly." Ares answered thoughtfully.

"Did you grow up together?" Hermione asked with interest.

"Actually, we did. Or, mostly. Ares over there showed up when we were all 11, and we've been together ever since." Jake said, pretending to wipe away a tear from his eye.

Ares shock his head at his friend's antics, and said, "This part of the world seems rather torn up. The Headmaster was down right paranoid when we first turned up. Good for him!"

"'This part of the world'? What part of the world are you from? I don't recognize you're accent."

"We're from the United States. There's no right or wrong way to talk there. It's very diverse." Shadow lied smoothly. She was good at that. It was close enough to the truth anyway. Their woodland wasn't to far off the coast of northern California

"Oh! That explains it. You-Know-Who isn't over there, so you wouldn't know-" Hermione reminded herself.

"Yes, we _wouldn't_ know, so I'm afraid we _don't_ know who." Coal said sharply.

"Why you gatta be like that, Coal?" Jay asked. "We already know who she's talking about-"

"I want her to say the name." Coal thought to him stubbornly.

"Bitch."

"And don't you forget it."

"Well, we don't really like to say the name over here-" Hermione tried to explain.

"He's not going to jump out of the nearest garbage can and A.K you just for saying his name!" Fire exclaimed, exasperated.

Hermione considered this for a second, before muttering something under her breath.

"Sorry? What was that?"

"Voldemort!" she said, louder this time.

The five Warriors stared at her for a few second before Shadow rolled her eyes and Coal snorted.

"That has got to be the stupidest name I've ever heard in all my years of life." Sapphire stated indifferently.

Hermione just gapped at them. Suddenly, the second bell rang, and it jolted her out of her stupor.

"I'm going to be late!" she gasped. Before she could work herself into a state, Sapphire handed her a piece of parchment. Hermione took it, confusedly, and red it threw. It was a note to her next period teacher excusing her lateness. "Thanks, you guys!" she exclaimed, hurrying out the door.

"Why did you give her a pass?" Coal asked once the girl had gone.

"I like her." Sapphire insisted.

"You like _everyone_!" Jake pointed out.

"We have to set up for our next class, people!" Ares yelled.

"Oh yeah!"

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Introduction to Dueling: an Elvin approach! Thank you for the reviews guys! Hope you liked the chapter!


	8. What Lady Icy Said

Thanks y'all for the patience! Hope you like! It's a little short, but I'm trying!

**Disclaimer:** I own the box in front of 7/11! Nothing more, nothing less! Oh, and I also own my house, but I for_ sure_ do not own J.K's work!

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**Chapter 8: What Lady Icy Said**

Even as the morning's lessons progressed, up in the Headmaster's office, something extraordinary was occuring...

Albus Dumbledore was currently sitting at his desk, minding his own business and sucking on a lemon drop, when a bright golden light emitted from one of his many trinkets littering the room. This particular device was small, round and silver-blue with a neat little diamond set on it's top which was giving off the light. Seizing the little object, Albus swore softly.

"This cannot be." he muttered, raising his wand and scanning the silver. Immediately it let out a sharp BEEP-ing noise, leaving Dumbledore to stare in bewilderment.

_'Perhaps the Orb is malfunctioning,'_ the old Headmaster reasoned, prodding the Orb once more for good measure. Whatever the artifact was supposed to do, it didn't, and Albus was left with no doubt that this _was_, indeed, happening.

"Lady Ravenclaw." Albus addressed the wall of old Headmasters and Headmistresses. As he spoke, many of the portraits shifted to life to listen in on the conversation.

The women whom he had spoken to jerked awake gracefully, and shook her chocolate-colored locks to clear her head of its lightness. Beating imaginary dust off her blue robes, the lady straitened and smiled slightly at Dumbledore, her sparkling blue eyes observed him behind golden spectacles.

"May I assist the, Albus?" she asked.

"If you could, Rowena. You see, one of the Hogwarts heirlooms is acting up. I'm afraid I do not know much about it only that it has not awoken in the last one thousand years, and is hoped to never awaken again. Do you know of what this is?" Albus held up the silver ball for Ravenclaw's inspection.

"Hmm... I fear I am just vaguely familiar with such a device; the name escapes me. However, I believe it is one of Salazar's creations. He may be able to assist you." Ravenclaw offered.

Dumbledore smiled at her and nodded his head. Turning slightly, he sought out the painting of Salazar Slytherin, who had not troubled himself to activate his animation charm.

"Lord Slytherin? A moment, if you will?" Albus called to the man.

The painting of the most infamous Parseltongue in centuries slid smoothly into life. Though Salazar Slytherin was a very handsome man, with inky black hair, calculating emerald eyes, finely sculpted facial features, and aristocratic grace; he was _better _known, however, for his over-arrogant room presence, and condescending attitude. He demonstrated this now as he eyes the current Headmaster with a haughty expression.

"What does thy require so _urgently_, Dumbledore?" Slytherin drawled, injecting all of his upper-class contempt and long-suffering patience into the short sentence.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Lord Slytherin-"

"Then _don't_!" Salazar cut in sharply.

"-but there has been a small mystery that must be cleared up." Albus plowed on, holding up the still-glowing Orb for Slytherin to see. The dark haired man gave a knowing smirk at the sight, and leaned back into his chair at leisure.

"It seems, _Headmaster_, that you have a little situation on your hands."

"And what might that be?" Albus asked pleasantly, but with a hint of a warning in his tone.

Slytherin snorted at the tone, and rolled his eyes. "Save the intimidations for your students, Dumbledore. You are wasting your already very limited amount of time if you wish to inspire fear within myself."

"I do apologize, Salazar." Albus stated impatiently. It was so frustrating that he could not simply look into the painting's thought and not have to deal with his word games. "_Please_ tell me-?"

"Very well." Slytherin said arrogantly. "You may as well know, since there is nothing you may do about it... That Orb. The Orb of Icis, yes _I _fashioned it myself out of ever-frozen mercury and a single baby tooth of my own Basilisk. I named it after the most powerful Seer of the age, Lady Icy. It was originally designed to act as a mediator between the living and the dead, however, instead of passing threw the worlds to speak to the dead, something went wrong, and the Orb was sucked onto a different world... The land where prophecies are dictated."

"What does the glow mean, then?" Albus asked fearfully. What if Harry Potter was not the one who would defeat Voldemort?

"It means that a prophecy had been changed." Salazar stated, looking amused. It was always immensely satisfying to ruffle the great Albus Dumbledore's feathers, as not many could lay claim to doing so.

"Which-?" the Headmaster started, but he cut himself off as the golden glow surrounding the Orb turned bright red. Suddenly, an image of a little girl around 6 years old was projected from the sphere, with scruffy dark hair and glazed over brown eyes. She was blind. Before Albus could react, the girl began to speak.

_"The eyes of the raven see all... _

_Though its voice has been silenced, and it's sight gouged by its former master,_

_Its presence is for always, and not even the Virus may take that away. _

_The wolf shall be slain by the 5th's rising as it attempts to redeem its fellow... _

_But all will be in vain if Fear chooses Right... _

_But what better place to hide then in plain sight..._

_The warning will come too late, and Fate sighs as the angel returns, leaving many without hope. _

_But evil has now sealed its fate, and made an enemy for life_...

_Destiny will be decided at the end of a long journey when the Chosen One will pick from what is right and what is easy_

_But step carefully young Champion..._

_For not all is what it seems..."_

At the end of this announcement, the girl gave a disarranged giggled, and the picture faded from sight. The office seemed to be frozen in time for a moment as its occupants took all this news in.

"That child sounded mad." one of the past Headmasters observed, entirely serious.

"Believe it or not, most Seers are either chronically insane, or blind." Salazar informed loftily.

"Was that girl-?" Albus hesitated.

"Lady Icy was both." Gryffindor answered the unfinished question shortly.

"This is why we have no choice but to take this prediction as nothing short of a fact." Helga added softly.

"She could have been lying!" a red haired Headmaster protested loudly.

"Forgive me for saying so, Delturis," Ravenclaw said in a cool voice. "But you flaunt your ignorance. Icis's combination of insanity and blindness from birth is both a rarity and a curse. The Seer's blindness strengthens the inner eye, for then it does not have to split its focus on the solid world and the Seer world. The Seer's insanity causes his or her mind to be caught in the realm of prophecies and be fully immersed in the past present and future, so that the Seer has no control over weather or not they may reveal the prophecy's contents. They blurt out the truth without a choice.

"This is also a curse to be so powerful a Seer." Rowena sighed. "There is a price for all things good, after all. In this case, the price is the person's _presence_. The Seer is not here nor there... Like lightning. Some are so powerful, that in the translation of their prophecy, they die from the sheer knowledge they are given. They die of an overworked mind. Humans can only know so much..."

"So what does this new prophecy mean?" Albus wondered aloud.

"The only one who may be able to make sense of it would be the one whom the prophecy refers." Helga stated.

The current Headmaster sighed. "We cannot tell Harry. It would only help him if we said nothing." Instantly there were protests.

"That is the most illogical thing you have ever said!"

"How will he complete the prophecy if he knows nothing of it?"

"This information can only help him in his quest, Dumbledore. You would do well to tell him-"

"_ENOUGH_!" Albus hissed. There was silence, though it was far from a respectful one. "There is no sense in worrying the boy. I must attempt to decipher this myself."

Recognizing a dismissal when they saw one, the portraits indignantly went still. Before doing so, the painting of Slytherin hissed something that unnerved him very much.

"You are playing a dangerous game with these Warriors, Dumbledore. They are not as they seem, and hold many secrets. I know for a fact that none of them truly care about your side of this war. They will obey orders and do what they can to help their cause, yes, but the orders they follow are not yours. Be mindful of whom you try to brush the thoughts of, Albus. One of these days may be your last...:" Slytherin went still, but now his handsome face was graced with a knowing smirk as Albus scowled at the wall.

"Salazar has no idea what he is saying. Harry Potter will defeat Voldemort... But what does this new prophecy mean?" Dumbledore began to pace the room in irritation.

"Hmm... the Raven can mean anything from the animal itself, or a human. The second line has Voldemort written all over it. But how does the Raven tie into all of this?_ And w_hat Virus? Is that supposed to be an illness or a person...? Or perhaps Voldemort is this Virus? Killing people all over _is_ what he does...What Wolf does this mean? Were we not talking about a Raven? And what is the 'fifth rising'?

"Fear can mean a number of things as well, but what does she mean by 'Right'? What will be hidden in plain sight? Warning for what? This angel seems to mean death, but for whom? The next line is very encouraging, and the line after is rather obvious. The last line is what bothers me though."

Albus sighed as he rubbed his forehead. Turning to his phoenix, he sighed again. "What is so horribly important that an entire _prophecy_ must be altered? And why must it be given by such a powerful Seer?" The phoenix trilled softly at him, and Albus smiled.

"I suppose we will have to wait just like everyone else to see what is to happen. Time is vicious when she wishes to be, after all. But unravel it will, my dear, for all time must pass...:"

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There's the update! Sorry I updated **Professors** before you guys! They are just one scary group! And one of them possessed broccoli! (_Shudders_) I feared for my life if I didn't update for them soon! But here you go! Hope you like!


	9. A Boggart Tells No Lies

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing here.

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**Chapter 9: A Bogart Tells No Lies**

A few hours later, Ares entered the Great Hall for lunch with his friends. Talking to each other cheerfully, they chose their seats at the staff table, and broke off into discussions with the other professors.

Sapphire was speaking happily with the Charms professor, Flitwick, about what wonderful weather the day had had. The man looked delighted at the prospect of speaking to someone who was as cheerful and happy as he, and was beaming at the girl as she spoke of a formation of some cloud she saw.

Jay was entertaining himself by listening to the Divinations professor, Trawlany, going on about how he was going to die within the week should he go anywhere near a vat of creamed corn. The poor woman was growing rather flustered by the young Elf's unsuppressed snickering as she told him of his ill fate.

Shadow was conversing seriously with the Transfiguration professor, McGonagall, about the first day of lessons. The old witch looked impressed when Shadow launched into a complicated description of the Multi-Animagus transformation for Elves.

Coal was listening - or really just barely tolerating - the Care of Magical Creatures professor, Hagrid, as he went on about different animals he had encountered in the Forest. It was obvious to her friends, from her expression as he described the habits of Wolves; she was just dieing to yell at Hagrid that she had a mental connection with a wolf familiar and knew a wolf Animagus. The elf's right eye twitched as the man proceeded to tell her about the wolf's regular diet, and only just stopped herself from telling him as nastily as she could (which was very nasty indeed) that when agitated, wolfs would not hesitate to go out on a limb and take a bite out of a half-giant.

That left Ares speaking curiously with the Defense professor, Black, about his biological parents. Ares had never given them a second thought before now since his past was a rather painful topic before that of Sky's rescue mission. Sirius, as he had insisted Ares call him, had apparently been a close friend of theirs, and was telling Ares stories from when he and his father had been in school together.

"...And then, Lily screams at James to let go, so he does, and she went flying into the lake!" Sirius said in between gasps of laughter. Harry snorted into his pumpkin juice, grinning further at the look of disgust Coal shot at him while she proceeded to ignore Hagrid's talk of wolves.

"That's insane!" Ares choked out, gasping for air as he tried to control himself. "Sky would 'triple if she were here!"

"'Triple'? Sky?" Sirius questioned.

Ares smirked. "Oh, I forgot. You're old. You wouldn't know what triple means."

"Hey!"

"Okay! It's short for 'triple flip'... You know... Flip out?"

"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed, a look of dawning comprehension spreading across his face.

"And Sky is my... well, I guess mother, but she doesn't act like it. She's more of my older sister, and Ashleigh is more of a mother." Ares mused.

"What?" Sirius asked, surprised.

Ares' smile faded. "Well, I didn't know Lily and James. I don't really consider them my family..." Sirius looked sadly at him, but nodded in understanding.

Before more could be said on the matter, the bell rang threw the school to announce the end of lunch.  
"Well, that's my cue." Sirius observed, getting up and stretching. "If you and your friends want to stop by the Staff Room at dinner, I can tell you what I'm going over with my student and you can go off that."

"Sounds good." Ares responded, waving the man off as he exited the Hall.

"Shall we?" he added over his shoulder at his friends.

"We shall!" they chorused, also leaving the hall.

The rest of their day was spent with two more Dueling classes, and a short break before the five lazily headed over to the Staff Room. On the way over, something suddenly clicked in Ares' mind.

"Hey, guys, that reminds me. I know that I sent Ivy into the dark forest because that's where she would be most comfortable, but where did your familiars go?" he asked curiously.

Shadow answered first, saying, "Well, I let Jupiter just explore the grounds. He has the sense not to do anything stupid."

"And Jaylin is just flying around, chillin' in who knows where." Jay added, grinning as they walked on.

"Damien... I don't really know where he is." Coal muttered, not meeting anyone's eye. Ares looked at her in surprise. Coal's job was to know; some would even go so far as to call her nosy. Before Ares could say anything on the subject, Fire spoke.

"Lily is in the kitchen," Fire giggled. "She loves watching the house elves."

At the mention of 'house elves', Coal scowled, but the rest of the group ignored it, and Ares forgot about his friend's disturbing attitude about the safety of the raven.

"They do know not to touch her, right?" Jake asked in concern.

At the very thought of it, the elves shivered. Ares knew that the elf species was very sensitive to magical bonding. The only reason Jay, Fire, Shadow and Coal could touch one another's familiars was because they had a mind-link bond. Ashleigh had once tried to explain to him the complicated mechanics of a familiar bond...

**"A familiar bond is very sacred, Emerald... I don't think I can explain it well." Ashleigh admitted, fiddling with Aurora's ear unconsciously.**

**"Can you try though? You have 'Rora, and Sky wouldn't even know where to start since she doesn't have a bonded," Ares pled with his grandmother desperately.**

**"...Well, I suppose. There is not much I can say that you will understand at this age, for it is rather complicated, but there is a very important taboo that you must be aware of at all times. NEVER touch another's bonded. If someone outside an elf's bonding circle were to touch an elf's bonded familiar, it would feel... wrong." Ashleigh shuddered at the thought and Aurora twitched her tail unhappily.**

**"Wrong?"**

**"Like... Like someone reaching into your heart and tugging on something privet." She winced again, and looked at him seriously. "Never do It, Ares. It can drain an elf's life force, but such a method is not even used in battle. Not all of It's affects are known, and research has been discontinued. It is an offense greater then all others in this realm."**

**"But, then why did Aurora carry me here on my first day?" Ares asked in horror.**

**"That was her choice." she responded seriously.**

**"Our choices make us who we are, Emerald." Aurora growled suddenly. "Never forget that."**

**"I won't." Ares answered firmly.**

"Yes, Jay, they know. They are elves, too." Fire was saying.

"Pride less and lacking in dignity, but elves all the same." Coal sneered.

No one bothered to argue with her as they knocked on the door to the staff room. When no one answered, Coal arrogantly pushed the door aside and entered with the others following.

The first thing Ares noticed was that the room was littered with different sized chairs, and had several ugly-looking wardrobes pushed against the walls.

Sapphire seemed to feel this way too, because she scrunched her nose at the choice in furniture, but didn't comment.

Not everyone had such restraint, however.

"Who decorated this place?" Coal scoffed.

"Girls. They have to judge everything!" Ares sent to his best male friend.

"Story of our lives, Re." Jay answered back, sagely.

"My gosh! What do you suppose they keep in here?" Jay muttered aloud, reaching for the door of the nearest cabinet.

As soon as the door was open, two things happened in quick succession.

First, something rushed out of the open wardrobe door, and second, Jake gave a loud yell of shock.

Laying on the floor, motionless and obviously dead, was Jaylin.

Ares' world came crashing down around him with an almost audible BANG as Jake gave a horrible cry of anguish, throwing himself to the ground, and attempting to revive her.

"This can't be happening! This can't be real!" Sapphire sobbed.

"No... This isn't real..."

Ares spun around to stare at Shadow, who had spoken. She was watching Jake scream at his deceased familiar to stop playing such a sick joke on him, and was in the process of drawing her wand.

"What did you say?" Ares demanded of his friend.

Ignoring him, Shadow called loudly to Jake, "It's not real, Jay! It's a Bogart!"

"Jay, it's not real!" Sapphire called desperately, hearing what the wolf animagus had said.

"Fight it, Jay!" Ares yelled.

The grieving boy didn't seem to hear them, however, and continued to cry his heart out over his lost friend.

"This is getting ridiculous." Coal hissed, but she was obviously scared.

"Do something then!" Shadow spat out, channeling her Storm side.

"And what should I do?" Coal demanded, rounding on Shadow in her anger.

"Haven't any of you ever battled a Bogart before in your life?" Shadow snarled as she pushed herself past her friends to assist Jake.

As she neared, the Bogart seemed to consider her, and switched into a carbon-copy of Shadow herself... with deliberate mistakes.

The copy was frightfully thin; you could see indents between each rib in her chest threw her tight black dress. Her skin was pale to an unhealthy degree, and she looked overall very sick.

Shadow seemed to freeze inside of herself, staring at her emaciated counterpart in a sort of horrified trance as it advanced towards her.

"What is that thing?" Coal asked of Ares, who was at a loss for an answer. The only thing he could feel was a blinding sort-of panic. Whatever that creature was, it was hissing something that no one but Shadow could hear. The girl looked to be on the verge of tears as she backed away from it, but tripped over her own feet in her haste to move.

Something inside him gave an uncomfortable tug as he saw Shadow's greatest fear. Ares ran forward in what Jay would later deem his 'active hero complex', and placed himself before his friend and watched uncertainly as the Bogart changed shape.

Ashleigh now lay dead on the floor with Aurora, who was on the edge of slipping away as well, standing over the young-looking queen as Skyler watched the two die sadly a few feet away. The great animal turned its head to glare at Ares in hate and snarled weakly as it uttered its last words.

"You killed us both, you selfish little human. I never should have let that half-breed Skyler drag you into our perfect life. My Ashleigh trusted you, and look what you did. I hate you, and I wish that that uncle of yours killed you before you were brought into our lives..." and with that, Bogart-Aurora died too.

Bogart-Skyler gave a cry of anguish as the two slipped away. She spun around and gave Ares a look of such loathing that the boy recoiled as she yelled at him.

"You're the reason that Aurora hated me so!" Bogart-Skyler screamed at him. "It's your fault that Aurora tried to kill me as an infant! I wish I had never met you! I wish that Ashleigh had told me to take you back to that hell that you lived in! You deserved everything that they did to you!"

Ares continued to stare at the spot that Bogart-Aurora had spoken to him as Skyler screamed at him. He had unshed tears in his eyes, and didn't notice that Coal stepped quietly forward to take on the Bogart herself. No one noticed what Coal's Bogart turned into, because everyone was still very much upset.

And so, the fact that Kcoalia's greatest fear was a little crystal bottle filled with clear-as-water liquid, was totally ignored as the group stewed in their own despair. No one noticed Sirius Black slip threw the door a few moments later until he started to greet them.

He spoke to the Warriors for the better part of an hour, and didn't once realize the horror written clearly in each teen's eyes as they recalled: Auror/Skyler's words, the dead form of Jaylin, Shadow's dark-side counterpart, or the little crystal bottle full of water-looking substance. And each was, indeed, their greatest fear.

After all: a Bogart can tell no lies.

* * *

Whew! I got a chapter done! I hope it gives you something to think about. There was a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, and I hope people picked up on it! R&R!

**-Master of Random Disaster**


	10. Author's Note: PLEASE READ!

Okay, I am _back_! 0.o Yeah, I'm alive, and I've been causing chaos all _over_ the place:D I've set Professors Make the Best Matchmakers! to rights, for anyone who is following that… so they have a new chapter, but I know that you guys got nothin'!

**All:** BOOO!

(**Announcer's Voice**) But wait! XD There's moooore!

That's right, friends, I have something for you, too. I haven't been particularly inspired to write a chapter for this story for awhile now. NOT BECAUSE I HATE YOU GUYS! That is _so_ not the reason, because your reviews mean the **world** to me! T-T I just didn't want to show up with some lame excuse, dish some lame chapter, and expect some glowing reviews—NO SIR!

I have decided to take this ff in an entirely new direction! The thing is… well, I think it will be one of those things that you either love or hate. No in-between. So, before I go off on some crazy quest, I'd like to know:

**1.) Is anyone still reading this even? XP**

Thanks, and sorry for the wait!


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